The Rings Of Power Is Fully Switching Formats In Season 3

It’s not really a secret that The Rings of Power is a very big deal for Prime Video. Any adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world is automatically an ambitious undertaking, but by focusing on Middle-earth’s Second Age, The Rings of Power has a considerably smaller amount of source material to adapt compared to Peter Jackson’s movies, yet considerably more hours to fill. Quite understandably, the disconnect between amount of Tolkien lore available and the demands of a multi-season TV series has resulted in The Rings of Power filling a few canon gaps.

It’s the way in which said gap-filling occurred that has possibly held The Rings of Power back from taking over streaming like Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies took over cinema. Storylines such as Númenor’s tumultuous political landscape and Durin III succumbing to Sauron’s influence take small seeds of Tolkien lore and grow them into fully-blossoming trees that compliment the author’s work without contradicting it. Elements such as Gandalf’s early presence in Middle-earth and Galadriel’s love life feel forced and unneeded.

It could be fair to say that The Rings of Power hasn’t found a sense of balance quite yet, and that’s precisely why Prime Video’s third season is so important.

With The Rings of Power conceived as a five-season beast, and the first two seasons showing promise without earning truly outstanding status, season 3 is where Amazon’s series needs to truly soar. It’s the midpoint, the meat of the narrative, and the time when early-season teething problems need to be overcome. Even more so because The Rings of Power season 3 is covering the War between Sauron and the Elves, one of the most significant eras in Tolkien’s Second Age.

Given The Rings of Power season 3’s clear importance, then, it’s certainly intriguing to see Prime Video switch up the episode format compared to past seasons.

The Rings Of Power’s Reworked Season 3 Format Explained

Each season of The Rings of Power consists of eight episodes, but never quite in the same format. Season 1 began with a bumper double bill, then dropped episodes weekly from there. The Rings of Power season 2 saw a slight adjustment, with the premiere extending to three episodes instead of two. In its third season, The Rings of Power will rip up the rule book entirely, kicking things off with a whopping four-episode premiere (that’s half of the entire season), then continuing with two double features: episodes 5 and 6 together, then episodes 7 and 8 paired as a two-part finale.

Looking at the new release strategy another way, The Rings of Power season 1 ran for six weeks, season 2 ran for five weeks, and season 3 will span a mere two-week period.

The Rings Of Power Season 3’s Release Format Changes The Feel Of The Show

There are almost certainly some very scientific, data-centric reasons that have led Amazon to this unusual release strategy, and those reasons will likely never be shared openly. What’s clear from an audience perspective, however, is that The Rings of Power season 3 will have a very different feel simply by releasing in this rejigged format.

First and foremost, The Rings of Power‘s new season will feel closer to ‘event’ TV. Four joyful hours of Sauron showing the elves who’s boss, followed by a sequel one week later, and a big finale a week after that. Intentionally or otherwise, The Rings of Power season 3 looks a little like a movie trilogy, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and a far more cinematic aura. Released weekly, even the most expensive shows can’t help but feel soap opera-y, with ups and downs, good episodes and bad. The Rings of Power‘s new season is set up like three movies, which is a structure surely more befitting of Middle-earth’s epic grandeur.

And it’s especially befitting of season 3’s storyline, with The Rings of Power‘s next eight installments effectively being one big war to decide the fate of Middle-earth. The unique release schedule solidifies the idea that The Rings of Power‘s third season is one big story, not eight stories strung together. And that makes sense, because the War Between Sauron and the Elves could have easily made for a film every bit as expansive and stunning as a movie would be.

It’s perhaps also worth noting that, while season 3’s schedule is definitely unusual for The Rings of Power and Prime Video, it’s becoming fairly common practice for major releases on other platforms. Stranger Things season 5, the most anticipated thing Netflix ever streamed, also released eight episodes in three chunks close together, very much like what we’re now seeing with Amazon’s Middle-earth endeavors.

The Rings Of Power Season 3 Will Be Less About ‘Moments’

Whenever a season of TV is divided into individual episodes, it gets judged on ‘moments’ – those watercooler discussion points that leave fans deep in debate until the next episode arrives the following week. Being appraised on individual moments doesn’t necessarily work in The Rings of Power‘s favor, not least because Tolkien’s stories are designed to be best appreciated with full context, but also because whenever The Rings of Power leaves us with a ‘moment’ that isn’t canon, the next week is spent ruminating on it. Galadriel and Elrond’s kiss would be one memorable example of an episodic moment that left a bitter seven-day aftertaste.

By releasing in three larger chunks, The Rings of Power can mitigate that issue somewhat, and be judged more on overall themes, development of character arcs, and general storytelling. Any of those divisive moments of controversy will be cushioned by virtue of being a single scene encased within 2 to 4 hours of material. Asking fans to ignore those traditional episodic boundaries and judge the ‘whole’ gives The Rings of Power‘s depiction of Sauron vs. the elves the best chance of being embraced.

Having said that, no amount of schedule shuffling will be enough for The Rings of Power to convert its skeptics by itself. Releasing in bulk will help, but there’s no getting away from the simple truth that Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series needs to improve upon its past two seasons if it hopes to win universal acclaim.

Release Date

September 1, 2022

Network

Amazon Prime Video

Showrunner

John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip

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